The Scars We Choose and The Ones We Don't (continued)
by Hannernanners93
Summary: Evie is changing and not in a good way. The problem is, Mal is the only one who seems to notice. Note: I am continuing this on my new account because I cannot log into my old one.
1. I Hurt Too

Trigger warning: self harm insinuated, eating disorder behaviors, mentions of rape

and bullying/harassment

"Even though you're drowning in valleys and echoes, I believe there is peace in those

hills up ahead."- I Hurt Too by Katie Herzig

Mal noticed a change in the blue haired, brown-eyed angel. Long sleeves and downcast

eyes, she would offer everything but an apple at meals to the boys, who so eagerly

accepted it , without wondering what made Evie so insistent upon giving her food away.

The blue haired diva was losing weight almost as fast as Carlos had gained weight when they first moved to Auradon prep. hat she was going to do, or so she thought. She knew what Evie was doing, but no one else seemed to notice.

That night, she went to the cafeteria and got all of their favorite foods. Evie was going to eat if it was the last thing Mal ever made sure of. What she didn't know was how adamant Evie would be about not eating and what Evie would tell her that would sicken her to her core.

""For the 1000th time, M, I told you I'm just not fucking hungry," Evie tried to convey to Mal the lie she had been telling herself for weeks. What she didn't realize was that the sleeves of her favorite purple top had risen up and her hands were shaking.

"Bullshit, E. You know I love you. I always have. But I also know when you're lying." It was at that moment Mal realized how bad Evie's hands were shaking worse than they

ever had before. "You're shaking, babe."

"Evie just shook her head and said, "I need to go for a run..."

"Before she could leave, Mal gasped at the scars on her best friend's arm and grabbed

Evie's hand, "Baby, what happened?"

"I just fell, okay?" And before Mal knew it, Evie's hand had left hers and the blue haired beauty was out of sight.

Evie had to get out of there. She couldn't let Mal know what she did to her own skin. It would break her heart. She ran out of her room and away from her best friend, the one she had feelings for, and to the locker room in the gym, where she immediately went to her locker, changed into her gym clothes, a long sleeved sweatshirt and sweatpants.

Her phone buzzed a couple times before she put her headphones in. The name that came up was "Asshole." She knew exactly who it was. They had been harassing her with texts ever since the incident . She wasn't going to think about that now though...she couldn't.

She just put her phone in her pocket and put her headphones in her ear and ran around campus for what felt like hours and minutes at the same time. Once it got dark however,

Evie knew she needed to go back to the dorms because it would be curfew soon.

God, I hate it here, she thought to herself as she headed back to her room.

As Evie opened the door of her room, she saw Mal sigh with relief.

"Evie, I was so worried about you. You never run, or at least not until the past month or so. Are you okay?"

Evie looked the girl she loved more than anyone in the world and started tearing up.

"Evie, baby, what is it?" Mal questioned.

"I...I don't know how to say it." Evie's voice was quivering, "Something happened," as the last syllable fell from her mouth, Evie fell to the floor and started sobbing.

Immediately, Mal went to wrap her arms around the girl who had stolen her heart. She hated seeing Evie look so broken, but she didn't know what to do other than hold her.

"It's okay, baby girl. I got you," Mal assured the beautiful girl she was holding.

While still holding Evie in her arms, after the other girl's sobs had become more of a hiccup, Mal questioned "Do you think you can tell me what's going on now sweetie?"

Evie nodded into Mal's chest but instead of immediately telling Mal what happened, she grabbed her phone from her pocket, pulled up her notes on her iPhone and typed: I was

raped. The person who did it has been harassing me. I don't know what to do.

After typing it out, she handed the phone over to Mal and sunk her face deeper into Mal's chest.

Upon reading the note, Mal set Evie's phone down and said, "Oh sweetie, I'm so sorry. You didn't deserve that. No one does. Okay honey? And I also don't want to pressure you to do anything you don't want to do. But do you think you can tell me who did it?" Her voice was sweet, nothing like Evie had ever heard before and that just made her want to cry more.

With a shaky breath, Evie looked up into Mal's eyes and responded, "Doug."

Mal was livid. She had never liked that creep, but she thought Evie did. So she put up

with the little bastard. But now? Now that she knew what he had done, she wanted to

kick the crap out of him. Not only that, Mal wanted to do something she had never done

before. She wanted to fucking kill that son of a bitch.

However, right now, she needed to stay with Evie and protect her from anything she

could, even if that meant protecting Evie from herself.

"After a little while longer, Mal looked down at Evie who was all but asleep. The girl

looked so peaceful. She wished she had the strength to carry the sleeping beauty to bed,

but she wasn't that strong yet. Therefore, Mal gently nudge the sleeping beauty with her

elbow which seemed to jolt Evie awake, which resulted in an evil glare that Mal couldn't help but laugh at, considering she had received many evil looks from her mother that Evie would never be able to top.

"I know I woke you up baby girl, but we need to go to bed. Do you want to sleep in bed

with me?" After all, it was well past midnight. Evie solemnly nodded, her grimace gone,

and nothing but a sad smile replacing it. She grabbed her phone from where Mal had put it down and sighed

Another threatening text , she thought to herself, that's just what I need right now .

Mal heard the other girl sigh. She hated seeing someone so beautiful look so sad. But

determined to get to the bottom of everything, she asked Evie if she could see the

messages, to which Evie replied with a solemn nod, looking down at the floor.

She looked at the messages from Asshole , who she could only assume was Doug and was shocked.

He had sent her text after text telling her if she told anyone, he would post the video he

had a friend take of the incident to Facebook. It would be taken down as soon as possible, but that wouldn't stop perverts and weirdos from saving it. It would also make Evie the gossip of the school, which was the last thing anyone would want to happen, especially after something so horrible had happened. There were also messages telling Evie she was a worthless, no good dyke and that no one would ever love her. Bullshit, Mal thought to herself, I love her. I always have. However, at least now, she understood why Evie had been so quiet about what had happened and she also understood some of the behaviors Evie was exhibiting.

"Evie, before we lay down, do you think you can tell me who took the video?"

Evie shook her head and sighed, "I think I have some idea, but there's no way to know for sure. Can we just go to bed?"

The truth was, she knew EXACTLY who had taken the video. However, she didn't think anyone would believe her, not even Mal. Because he was running Auradon.

Mal sighed. She could tell the girl was lying, but she didn't want to force the girl to open up anymore than she already had.

That would have to wait until tomorrow, she thought to herself.

"Evie, I'm going to cut the lights off. Do you want me to leave a lamp on?" She only

asked because the girl hadn't been sleeping well and she was now guessing it was because of nightmares, and maybe having the lamp on would help.

"Yes, please Mal."

Wow. Mal thought. This has really damaged her. She's never said please before. I just

want her to be okay.

After the lights were out and they were in Mal's bed together, Evie nuzzled into the other

girl's chest and sighed.

"Before nodding off, Evie looked up at Mal and mumbled, "I love you, M."

Mal smiled to herself and said, "I love you too, baby girl."

Evie nuzzled even farther into Mal , who had her arms securely wrapped around one day. Maybe things would be okay again , Evie thought to herself, Maybe.

Before she knew it, she was fast asleep, securely in Mal's arms.


	2. Unsteady

AN: Flings between Mal and Ben have previously ended even though it's not explicitly stated.

Trigger Warning: Explicit description of violence/sexual assault, bullying, harassment, self harm, ED behaviors, etc.

_"I've been treated so wrong, I've been treated so long, as if I'm becoming untouchable." -My Skin by Natalie Merchant_

_"Hold onto me 'cause I'm a little unsteady." -Unsteady by the X Ambassadors_

Evie's Point of View

Evie arose around 6:00 AM, a habit she had picked up because a princess always takes the time to look her best, as her mother had always told her. She didn't give a shit about that anymore though, not since the incident. _Old habits really do die hard_, she thought to herself.

She tried to move and get up, but she felt constricted, like someone was holding her down. Her breathing suddenly became shallow, and she almost started to cry until the memories from the night before came flooding back to her: she had confessed to Mal what had happened and why she had changed so much.

_Shit_, she thought,_ What the fuck have I gotten myself into?_

The princess, as quietly as possible, moved Mal's arm as to not wake the sleeping girl up. She sighed looking down at the other girl, who looked so peaceful...well as peaceful as any of the kids from the Isle had ever looked while sleeping.

_I want to sleep like that. I thought this place was supposed to be safe. Why did this have to happen?_ Evie's mind was going a million miles an hour.

So, she went to her dresser, grabbed a change of clothes (long sleeves and long pants because she wasn't letting anyone see those scars.) Then, she headed to the bathroom, making sure to lock the door. Stripping, she looked in the mirror and exhaled a breath she had no idea she had been holding in. She grabbed off the rack and her favorite razor from the bathroom mirror that was also a cabinet (that had been exciting to find when they had first moved to Auradon). But now nothing mattered. She hung the towel on the hook next to the shower.

Climbing in, she made sure to have the water as hot as humanly possible, despite it not being good for her skin. She just didn't give a shit anymore. After bathing, she decided to sit down in the shower, letting the water run down her face. She wanted to cry, but really there was no point. She had let all the tears out the night before.

Grabbing the razor from the place she had put it a few minutes before, she pressed it into the skin of her thigh. Waiting until it bled well enough to satisfy her until, she cut herself three more times on the same thigh. But for some reason, it just wasn't enough. Therefore, she slide the razor angrily across her other thigh, which started bleeding profusely.

"Shit," she said, a little too loud for her liking.

But it was too late when she realized how loud she had been because Mal was at the door picking the lock.

Mal's Point of View

Mal thought she felt something nudge, but it was way too early to get up. Well, anything before 7:45, which was fifteen minutes before classes started was too early to get up. So she let herself sleep in, which was a decision she regretted when she jolted up as soon as she heard the word, "Shit," come from the bathroom.

Memories from the night before came flooding quickly, and she realized Evie wasn't in bed with her anymore, so she ran to the bathroom and tried to open the door, but it was locked.

_Of course._ Mal thought to herself._ Of fucking course it's locked._

This wasn't much of a problem, however, because the girl always carried bobby pins on her, and they were so obviously not to take care of her hair. Fumbling with the lock, she let Evie know she was coming in.

Upon opening the door, steam all but knocked her down. However, she still managed to run to the shower and open the curtain. There, she saw Evie sitting down, blood dripping from her legs.

"Evie..." Mal whispered solemnly.

Evie just sat there, staring straight ahead with a blank look.

Mal knew she had to get her act together, quickly. The wound on Evie's leg was bleeding severely.

Quickly, the girl with the purple hair, cut the shower off, grabbed the other girl's towel, putting it on the wound and applying just enough pressure. Evie winced at this, but Mal knew the girl had been in worse pain before.

It didn't stop her from feeling a twinge in her gut, especially when she noticed the smaller cuts on Evie's other thighs.

Eventually, the bleeding stopped. By then, Evie was mostly dry, so Mal grabbed some neosporin and some bandages from the cabinet/mirror and put them on Evie's wounds.

"Evie, baby girl, do you think you can get dressed or do you need any help?"

"I can do it, M." Evie stated numbly.

Not even waiting for Mal to leave, Evie got out of the shower, and put her clothes on.  
"Now, Evie, how are we going to explain this bloody towel to Fairy Godmother?"  
It was a legitimate question because the Fairy Godmother was the person who did everyone's laundry, so that any concerning stains would be asked about.

"I don't care," Evie stated blankly, eyes straight ahead, as she walked into their room, followed immediately by Mal.

"Okay..." the slightly older girl stated with a hint of disappointment to her voice.  
_I guess it doesn't really matter. I'll just tell her Evie cut herself shaving._ No big deal. Mal thought to herself.

Mal didn't know how she was going to say this next part because she knew Evie would hate it. But it had to be said.

"Evie, we aren't going to classes today," Mal explained to Evie, trying to look into those cold, distant eyes.

"Okay," Evie said dejectedly, not even trying to put up a fight.

Evie, her Evie, was broken, so broken, she didn't fight back for what she wanted. Evie wasn't ever really defensive, but she never just did what she was told without a valid reason. She hadn't been like this since the isle.

Mal shuddered at the thought of that place, but looked straight into Evie's eyes and put a hand in the other girl's. Evie's hand had stiffened at first, but after a few moments, her hand (ever so slightly) relaxed.

"Evie, I'm going to text the boys and tell them we won't be in classes today and to tell the teachers we're both sick. I will also tell them to come by our dorm later, with our 'homework' so we can talk to them about this. Is that okay?" Mal made sure to ask all of this as slow as possible so it would give Evie a chance to comprehend all of what she said.

Evie nodded solemnly, let go of Mal's hand and went to go sit on her bed.

Mal sighed, texted the boys and went to go sit next to Evie.

Looking the blue haired beauty in the eyes, Mal questioned, "Are you sure you're okay with telling them about this?"

Evie looked at her and ever so slightly nodded.

"Evie, I know you don't want to, but can you please tell me who that asshole says took the video of that happening?"

Evie slowly started to shake her head, looked into Mal's eyes and whispered, "I'm scared you won't believe me."

At this, Mal's stomach physically ached, but nevertheless, she looked right back at the other girl and said ever so softly, "Of course, I'll believe you, E. I always will."

At this, Evie just nodded and stared blankly for a few minutes.

After what felt like forever, Evie let her know everything she wanted to know with one little word, "Ben."

Mal's eyes flickered green, something that hadn't happened in months.

Evie sighed, shrunk into herself and kept saying, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry."

Mal knew exactly what was happening, it was something that had happened to all of the VK's at one point or another (although none of them would ever admit it). The other girl was about to have a panic attack.

"Evie, baby girl, breathe," she whispered as she touched the other girl's back. She felt the girl visibly flinch at the touch and cringed because that had never happened with Evie before.

"Evie, I need you to look at me."

Evie just sat there with her head in her hands and shook her head as if to say, "I can't."

"Yes, you can, E. I know you can. Look at me."

After several minutes of prompting, Evie finally managed to look into Mal's soft, green eyes.

"I'm not mad at you, Evie. This is NOT your fault. I know how hard this is. I'm here for you okay?" Mal whispered gently.

At this, Evie leaned into her, visibly relaxing. Mal rubbed the girl's back and whispered soothing words into her ear.

They stayed like that for a while and then decided to watch their favorite show, Brooklyn Nine Nine, until the boys came over. It was refreshing for Mal to hear Evie's laugh again. She hadn't heard it in a while. Granted, this laugh wasn't genuine, but it was something.

Before they knew it, they heard a knock on the door and knew it must be the boys. With a heavy sigh, Mal grabbed Evie's hand and said, "You ready?"

"I-I-I think so," Evie replied, "As ready as I'll ever be."

With that, they walked to the door and let Carlos and Jay in the room.

Jay's Point of View  


It was weird for Jay to receive a text like that from Mal, saying her and Evie would both be skipping classes because they were "sick." Well, it wasn't weird for Mal, but it was really weird for Evie to go along with it. Evie almost never skipped classes. As a matter of fact, it was hard for any of them to convince her to skip class when she was actually sick.

And then there was the fact Mal wanted them to meet her and Evie in their room after classes. Something definitely wasn't right. Before they headed to class, he told Carlos what was going on, who nodded, seemingly confused.

They both just shrugged it off though, and went to classes as usual, letting the professors know that Mal and Evie weren't feeling well and that's why they wouldn't be in attendance of that day's classes. Classes went about uneventfully, until it was time to go to the girl's dorm with Carlos.

Carlos' Point of View

Carlos sighed. He knew it was time to go to the girls' dorm and give them their homework. They also had something they wanted to talk to the boys about. This was extremely weird for the girls. Yea, they talked to the boys but they usually didn't involve them in everyday problems unless it was serious. The freckled boy had no idea how serious this problem was gonna be. Jay knocked on the door and the girls answered, holding hands.  
Carlos looked into each of the girl's eyes and knew something bad had happened.

"What's going on?" He questioned.

Mal spoke up, "Why don't we sit down on the floor?" It wasn't a question, as much as it was a statement. The boys obliged and they all sat in a weird looking circle.

Mal was still holding Evie's hand, and she looked at both Jay and Carlos and proclaimed, "You are not allowed to do anything rash upon finding this information out. We are still trying to decide what to do with this information. Am I understood?"

"Yes ma'am," both Jay and Carlos said. To anyone else, it would seem like they were mocking the girl, but based on her tone, they knew better.

"Good. Now, Evie, sweetie," she said while squeezing her hand, "Do you want to tell or do you want me to?"

"I-I-I-I w-w-want to." Evie all but sobbed. Mal gave her hand a reassuring squeeze as if to say it was okay to speak.

"I'm going to tell exactly what happened if that's okay?" Evie asked so sweetly it almost made Carlos nauseous. Something definitely wasn't right.

"It was at Chad's party about a month ago," Evie gulped, "The one I insisted on going to, and I stayed after you guys left. I was having fun, really, I was and I was super drunk, but then Doug offered me something else to drink, and I took it. B-b-but I-I-I got super dizzy r-r-really q-quick, and started to feel like I was going to throw up." Evie shuddered.

They all got the picture at this point, so Jay spoke up, "You don't have to keep going, Evie, it's okay," he said, giving her a reassuring half-smile.

"N-no, I need to g-g-get t-this out," Evie took a deep breath and kept on, "He offered to take me up to my room. And B-Ben came with h-him."

At this, Evie visibly gulped and Carlos sighed. He wasn't sure if he could hear anymore, but he knew he had to, for Evie, who was always there for the rest of them.

Evie's Point of View

Evie wasn't sure why she was so adamant about getting this out, but she knew she had to.

"W-well, they didn't take me up to m-m-my room. They took m-me to D-D-Doug's room. And I wasn't exactly passed out, but I was super sleepy. A-A-Anyway, t-t-they laid me down in the bed and B-Ben got a camera out. Then, Doug got on top of me and started kissing me. I t-t-tried to say n-n-no, but he just kept shushing m-m-e. So I pretended to be a-a-sleep, but I-I wasn't. Then, he s-s-started to unbutton my shirt. He took my shirt and b-b-bra off and started kissing me e-e-everywhere."

Evie shuddered, because she hated this, but she had to get this out, she just had to. With a reassuring hand squeeze from Mal, she kept on, "Then, he p-put h-his h-hand in my p-p-pants. I flinched, but he just smiled and said, 'I know you like this.' Then, he took my pants and panties off. I wanted to push him off, but I c-c-couldn't. It was like I was f-f-frozen. A-A-And then h-h-he put it inside me. I-It hurt so bad. I-I-I wanted to scream. I begged h-h-him to s-s-stop. I t-t-tried to s-s-scream, but then Ben, while still r-r-recording, p-p-put h-his h-h-hand on my m-m-mouth. And said, 'J-J-Just let h-h-him f-finish.' It felt like forever for h-h-him to f-f-inish, b-b-but e-e-e-e-eventually h-h-h-he did. And t-then he w-whispered, 'D-don't tell anyone about this, or else.' With that, he and Ben left and I just wanted to cry, b-b-but I d-d-didn't. I-I-I p-put m-my c-clothes on a-and went b-back to the r-room and s-showered."

Mal's Point of View

Mal remembered that night. She had left Evie at the party because she was starting to get a bad migraine.

_Fuck._ Mal thought to herself. _I never should have left. FUCK FUCK FUCK._

However, she couldn't think like that right now. She needed Evie to finish the story.

"And then what happened baby girl?" Mal asked, giving the other girl a reassuring look.

"After I s-showered and t-tried to scrub h-him off of me, I went to bed. I w-woke up the n-next morning w-w-with s-several threatening t-texts f-from D-Doug. H-He's l-labeled as Asshole though, and h-he's b-b-been d-doing this s-since that day."

Mal saw the glare in Jay's eyes and the fear in Carlos'. Right now, her feelings were more aligned with Jay's but she also understood why the youngest boy was afraid. The isle hadn't been friendly to any of them. But Auradon? It was supposed to be their fresh start.

"Let me see the phone, Evie," Jay exclaimed pointedly.

"Okay," she replied, handing the phone to Jay.

He looked through the messages, and it was clearly making him angrier but Mal knew why he had to see them. It was the same reason she had. It was because she needed to see what Evie was seeing every day. After he gave Evie back her phone, the oldest boy asked "Is there anything else you need to tell us?"

"G-Guys. I also n-need to t-tell you. I c-cut myself sometimes. Mal find out this morning, the hard way. And I just wanted you two to know. I d-don't want to, b-but I just f-f-feel so gross. I w-want to c-cut my s-skin off."

Mal saw Carlos visibly flinch at the words, but he and Jay both nodded.

"So what are we going to do?" It was the first time Carlos had really spoken.

"That's up to Evie," Mal replied.

Jay nodded in agreement, but made sure to add, "I really think we should tell Fairy Godmother."

"O-O-Okay." Evie told the other three, "But all of you have to c-come w-w-with me."

"So it's settled, but when do you want to do it?" Carlos questioned.

"R-Right now?" Evie said.

Mal smiled, not a genuine smile, but a smile nonetheless, and said, "Alright, let's go, E."  
With this, Evie grabbed both Mal's and Carlos' hand and felt Jay's comforting presence behind her.

The rotten four had no clue what to expect from the Fairy Godmother, but at least here, they had hope something would go right even under some of the most horrible circumstances.

And at least that was something.


	3. Too Beautiful

TW: Descriptions of assault and violence, mentions of rape, mentions of cuts, etc.

_"She's feeling it all now, but she doesn't cry, no she doesn't cry." -Too Beautiful by He Is We_

Evie's Point of View

Walking towards the Fairy Godmother's office, Evie sighed. She wanted nothing more than to sink into Mal, but instead she held her hand tightly and held a stoic look. She was tired of crying. She wanted to see something done about this gross injustice. Not because it happened to her, but because she knew they had more than likely done it to other girls. At that thought, she flinched, but felt a reassuring squeeze on her hand from Mal.

Mal's Point of View

Mal noticed Evie flinched and felt her eyes turn green with anger, but instead of acting on it, she gave Evie's hand a reassuring squeeze as they walked to the Fairy Godmother's office.

It took what felt like hours. But the rotten four had already arrived. Mal was just about to knock on the door when she saw Evie raise her fist to knock, but stood perfectly still.  
Evie's Point of View

"I-I can't do this," said Evie.

"Of course you can," replied Jay, giving Evie's shoulder a reassuring squeeze. At this unexpected touch, Evie flinched and coiled into Mal.

The purple-haired girl looked sternly at Jay, but calmed down when she noticed that Jay looked surprised. They had always been like brothers and sisters, and the fact that Jay's calming touch had messed with Evie…well that had to hurt him.

Jay's Point of View

"I'm sorry, Evie, I know we're all weird about touch sometimes and with everything that happened recently, I know you must be extra sensitive. You're still like a sister to me," Jay said.

"It's okay…" Evie responded, her voice muffled because her face was still inside Mal's shoulders, "But can we just leave?"

At this, Carlos, Jay, and Mal sighed, and were going to leave, but as they were about to walk away, they heard the Godmother's door open.

Fairy Godmother's Point of View

The Fairy Godmother was just about to leave to go eat supper when she ran into Mal, Carlos, Jay, and Evie as she was walking out of her office.

"Oh, what a lovely surprise!" she exclaimed, but upon seeing the solemn expressions on their faces, she asked, "Is there anything I can do for you four?"

"We were just going to supper," said Mal.

"Wait…", said Evie, "we can tell her."

The Fairy Godmother noticed the squeeze Mal gave Evie's hand as if she was brave for doing this.

"Well, come on in, girls and boys."

Evie's Point of View

They all followed Fairy Godmother into her office, which actually looked more like a therapist's office than anything. They had thought it would be purple and glamorous, but it had a big couch with three chairs, a desk and a chair for the Godmother to sit in. It was very clean with a couple of file cabinets. But there was nothing major in the room. This was a shock to the four, but it made Evie feel more at ease.

"Come, sit down wherever you like," the Fairy Godmother said.

They all sat down, Mal and Evie on the couch and Jay and Carlos on the two extra chairs.

"What's going on?" The Godmother questioned.

"Something happened," said Evie, "something terrible happened."

"Oh, was this on the Isle?"

"No, it happened here!" Mal exclaimed angrily.

"Mal, it's okay," said Evie.

At this, Mal looked at Evie questionably but after a few moments, she nodded and calmed down.

"What ever do you mean?" asked the Fairy Godmother

"I…I was raped." Said Evie.

"Wait…what? When?"

"It happened about a month ago at Chad's party, Doug did it...I was drinking and Ben recorded it and I don't want to go into detail but it's on Ben's camera and he threatened to post it if I told anyone."

At this, the Fairy Godmother sighed, "I'm so sorry that happened to you, sweetie. We will have to get the authorities involved and the case may take a while, especially since a member of royalty is one of the accused. But don't think I don't take this seriously. I'm going to call the authorities. You all may be dismissed, but don't be surprised if the authorities come to talk to you soon."

At this, Evie sighed, and gave the Godmother a grateful look.

The Fairy Godmother's Point of View

Upon dismissing the four kids, the Godmother sighed and immediately called the authorities. She then went to Ben's room and demanded he give up his camera along with any form of technology. She also expelled him until further notice pending investigation.

"What? This is so unfair!" cried Ben.

"I don't want to hear it," replied the Fairy Godmother, "Pack your things. I'm calling your parents and explaining the situation. You know what you did."

"Evie's lying" Ben exclaimed.

"If she's lying, how did you know she's who this is about?"

Ben shook his head and packed his stuff.

"Good riddance," thought Fairy Godmother. Ben had always given her a bad feeling, but she was never able to say anything with him being the king and queen's son. After this, she went to Doug's room and demanded all of his technology as well. She also expelled him pending further investigation by the Auradon police.

"This is bullshit," said Doug.

"Language," The Fairy Godmother warned, "I don't care if you think it's bullshit or not. You're expelled pending further investigation. I don't want to hear it."

Evie's Point of View

Jay and Carlos had just dropped Mal and Evie off at their room. And Mal decided to hop in the shower when suddenly, Evie heard a knock at the door. After weighing her options and figuring it was probably one of the boys, she decided to open it.  
It was a shock when she saw Doug who grabbed her arm so hard she just knew there was going to be a bruise. Not only that, he had grabbed her where a cut that had just started healing was, and she felt her skin get hot. He whispered into her ear,"I am going to END you for this." And then he pushed her onto her bed and punched her in the stomach, got on top of her, and choked her so hard he left finger marks on her neck. Luckily, she bit him so hard he winced, got up and left, but not before giving her a look that meant she knew she was in trouble.

She winced in pain as she tried to sit up on her and screamed, "MAL!"

Mal's Point of View

Mal was in the shower just about to shave her legs when she heard Evie scream. She immediately turned the water off, wrapped a towel around her, and ran to their room. She ran to Evie's bed, where Evie had a desolate look in her eyes. Upon further examination, she noticed finger like bruises on her neck and blood seeping through her white long-sleeved shirt.

"Oh, Evie, what happened?" she questioned. But Evie just stared blankly.

"I'm gonna put my pajamas on real quick and then we are going to fix you up, okay?" Mal said. Again, there was no response. Evie just looked straight ahead.

Mal sighed, and hurriedly put purple shorts with a tank top on. Then, she hurried over to Evie, and started to take her shirt off, but as she did so, she noticed an extremely red, fist shaped mark on her stomach. At this, she flinched as it gave her flashbacks to her own childhood.

"Evie, I'm going to take your shirt off, okay? So I can look at your arm. Is that okay?" Mal asked.

There was still no response, but Evie did manage to lift her arms so it would be easier for Mal to take her shirt off. Seeing the marks on her neck, arm, and stomach, Mal felt sick to her stomach. However, she had to keep a level head.

"I'm going to get a bandaid where that cut was opened. It doesn't look too bad, but we are going to take you to the nurse in the morning okay? So we can see if that looks any better, alright?"  
Again, there was no response, but Mal knew Evie heard her. After bandaging her open wound, giving her some pain killers, and putting pajamas on her, Mal laid down next to Evie in her bed. Soon, Evie had drifted off to sleep. Mal saw how peaceful she looked but knew deep inside, things weren't peaceful at all.  
However, Mal also knew things were going to be okay, one day, no matter what that cost.


	4. Inner Demons

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: I cannot log into my old account, so this story is going to be continued on this account. I really appreciate all the reviews left on my old account. But please continue to leave them on here too! Thanks and much love!**

"_Life is pain, Life's not fair." -Inner Demons by Julie Brennan_

Mal's Point of View

The next morning, Mal awoke to a knock on her door. She went to open it and was surprised to see the Aurodon police. She knew they were coming, of _course_. It was just, she had no clue they would come quickly. On the Isle, there were police, but they were corrupt and they hardly ever came by when an incident was reported. There were two police officers standing outside, a man and a woman. The man had a standoffish look on his face, while the female officer held a soft smile.

"Is your name Evie?" one of the female officers questioned. "We are here about an incident that was reported yesterday."

"No, she's asleep right now, but give me about five minutes and I'll wake her up and we'll both get dressed."

"Okay," the officer responded.

At this, Mal closed the door and went to wake Evie up.

"Hmm?" Evie mumbled.

"It's time to get up and get dressed, sweetie, the police are here.

"Mkay," Evie responded sleepily as she slowly sat up.

"I'm gonna go brush my teeth and you can get dressed while I do that."

Evie's Point of View

Evie groggily got up and went to her drawer. She grabbed a pair of gray sweatpants and a gray t-shirt. She then grabbed a bottle of water out of her and Mal's shared fridge and drank a couple of sips.

She was trying to calm herself down because she felt as if she was on the verge of a panic attack. In order to get justice, she knew she had to tell the cops, but she was scared. She had never had a good experience with the police.

Not even 2 minutes later, Mal came out of the bathroom, and asked, "You ready?"

"As ready as I'll ever be."

The two went to open the door and welcomed the officers into their room.

"My name's Stella Nicole Dodgers. And this is my partner, Detective Harry Watson."

"Nice to meet you, I'm Mal, and this is Evie," responded Mal as Evie just nodded.

The female officer looked at Mal and said, "Do you mind talking to my partner while I talk to Evie alone?"

Mal looked shocked but looked Evie in the eyes as if to ask if she would be okay. Evie nodded in response.

While Mal went to talk to the other detective, Evie looked at Detective Stella with sad eyes.

"Sweetie, I need to ask you a few questions. Is that okay?"

Evie nodded.

"Can you tell me exactly what happened?"

Evie explained every detail of her experience just as she had to Mal and the others the day before.

The detective nodded and said, "Do you have any of the clothes you were wearing or any of the sheets or anything like that?"

"Well, it happened in D-d-doug's room. B-ben recorded it." Evie looked at the detective sadly, "I threw my clothes in the laundry right after it happened and t-t-took a shower right after I got back to the dorm..I'm sorry."

"Sweetheart," Stella replied as she patted Evie's knee, "You have nothing to be sorry for. You did absolutely nothing wrong."

"There's something else," Evie looked at the detective with big, sad eyes, "Doug came in here and beat me pretty good yesterday," She lifted her shirt and showed her the bruises on her stomach, arm, and neck."

"That's awful, I'm so sorry that happened," the detective responded.

"Will I ever have to see them again?" questioned Evie.

"We are doing everything we can to make sure you never have to see them again."

"Will I have to go to court?"

"As of right now, we don't know."

Evie solemnly nodded and gave the detective a sad smile.

Mal's Point of View

Mal went out to the hallway with the other detective.

Detective Harry asked her "When did she tell you about this incident?"

"Well, she first told me the other night and then yesterday, she detailed that horrific experience to Jay, Carlos, and I. We're all really close." 

The detective nodded and said, "Have you noticed any changes in her behaviors over the past month?"

"Actually, yea. Before she even told me about what happened, she was constantly going on runs, which is shocking because she has never cared for exercising. She's also been engaging in self-destructive behaviors." Mal responded, "DAMN IT! I should have seen this coming. I should've known something was seriously wrong."

"Mal," the detective said, "You couldn't have known, okay? All you can do is look out for your friend, okay?"

Mal nodded in response, and not even a minute later the other detective was heading out of their room.

Mal went in their room as soon as the detectives left and saw that Evie had a distant look in her eyes. She went to sit next to the blue haired girl.

"Evie, are you okay, sweetie?"

Evie just sat there solemnly with a dead look in her eyes.

Mal squeezed her hand and kissed her cheek as if to let her know everything would be alright.

Evie's Point of View

She heard Mal ask if she was okay, and she felt her kiss her cheek. That was Mal's way of communicating everything would be alright. Evie wasn't sure.

"Mal?" Evie asked.

"Yea sweetie?"

"I don't think I'm gonna go to classes today either. I don't feel well."

Mal felt her head and said, "You don't feel warm, but given everything that's happened, it's understandable. I'll explain to our teachers why you didn't make it." Mal then looked at her watch and exclaimed, "Oh shit, speaking of which, I have got to go or I'm gonna be late."

Evie just nodded and felt Mal hug her. After Mal headed to her classes for the day, she just lay down in her bed under all her covers. She wanted nothing more than to be okay, but she wondered if that was even possible for a broken girl like her.


	5. Cut

"Relief exists, I find it when I am cut." - Cut by Plumb

Evie's Point Of View

Evie had drifted off to sleep pretty quickly after Mal left, despite the fact that thoughts were running through her mind at about what felt like a million miles per hour. She found herself having a pleasant dream about her and Mal in some meadow. It was peaceful at first, but the peaceful dream slowly started to turn into a nightmare with huge monster-like creatures crushing her happiness. The worst part was that these monsters had faces like Doug and Ben. Evie woke up in a cold sweat, grabbing her phone and checking the time. _11:30. _This was around the time her, Mal, Jay, and Carlos would go eat lunch. She sighed and was about to go to the bathroom when she heard a knock and a familiar voice say, "Evie. Can you let me in? I forgot my key."

Evie approached the door to let Mal in and looked at the purple-haired girl quizzically, as if to ask what she was doing here when classes wouldn't be over for another few hours.

"I'm here to take you to the nurse since we never got to do that this morning," said Mal, as if knowing what the girl was thinking.

"Okay," replied Evie, grabbing her phone and a jacket, "Let's go."

Mal's Point of View

There were two more classes before lunch by the time Mal realized she hadn't taken Evie to the nurse, like she had mentioned the day before. Classes went by extremely slowly, and so by the time the period before lunch ended, Mal let out a sigh of relief. She was about to head out the door, but not before she felt a tap on the shoulder. The purple-haired girl was about to go off on the person who had tapped her shoulder, but physically relaxed when she turned around and saw it was Jay.

"Are you alright, Mal?" asked Jay.

"Fine and freaking dandy," responded Mal sarcastically.

"I'm serious, Mal. You're like my sister and I care about you. Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, I guess. The police came by this morning. Did they come by and talk to you and Carlos?"

"Yes," Jay responded, "Fairy Godmother got Carlos and I out of first period to talk to them. It went as okay as it could have gone, I guess."

Mal nodded and said, "Well, I'm gonna go take Evie to the nurse because she needs to get her arm, stomach and neck looked at."

Jay stared at Mal quizzically as if to ask her what was going on.

"Doug came and beat her up pretty good yesterday after we talked to Fairy Godmother yesterday."

Mal saw anger flash through Jay's eyes for what felt like the billionth time that week, and put her hand on his shoulder ever so lightly as if to calm him down. It was only then that she noticed the absence of a freckled, whtie-haried boy.

"Where's Carlos?" Mal asked.

"He decided to go back to his room after talking to the police earlier. I don't think he's handling this very well, but he's trying to stay strong for Evie."

Mal solemnly nodded and said, "Well, I'm gonna go check on Evie and take her to the nurse and you go check on Carlos."

Jay nodded and they embraced for what felt like hours. After they let go of each other, Mal went to check on Evie and take her to the nurse.

When she got to her room, she realized she had forgotten her keys. _Shit, _she thought to herself. Then, she decided to knock on the door, and when no one answered, she said "Evie, can you let me in? I forgot my key."

After explaining to Evie why she was there, and letting Evie grab her things, they headed to the nurse's office.

Evie's Point of View

When Mal and Evie arrived at the nurse's office the nurse smiled sympathetically at Evie. Evie hated that look of pity. She felt herself sink into Mal, who rubbed her back as if to tell her it would be okay. The Fairy Godmother must have told the nurse what had happened. Evie wanted to be angry but she knew it was what was best.

"What brings you here?" questioned the nurse, who had pretty blonde hair and light blue-gray eyes.

Evie lifted her shirt to show the fist-like bruise that had taken shape on her stomach. The nurse visibly gasped at the sight of the bruise, and Evie squeezed Mal's hand. She felt Mal squeeze back and the blue-haired girl said, "That's not all." Evie proceeded to show the bruises on her neck and arm.

The nurse said, "Well, I'll give you some Ibuprofen to take every 6 hours as needed for swelling and pain and we'll put Neosporin on the cut that looks like it got roughed up.

Evie nodded and let the nurse check her vitals and make sure nothing was injured too badly.

After seeing that there were no serious injuries the nurse questioned if Evie had been tested for pregnancy and STD's.

"N-n-no. N-not yet," stuttered Evie.

"It's okay. We can do that right now if you want. The results for the pregnancy test won't take very long and the STD results won't take long either, since we have a magic potion that helps hurry the process up. Now, for the pregnancy test, we will need a sample of your urine and I will have to take some blood from your fingertips for the STD tests. Is that okay?"

Evie nodded and obliged to what needed to be done to make sure she wasn't pregnant and was healthy. Throughout the whole process, Mal didn't leave her alone, not once.

Soon, Evie was told that she wasn't pregnant and that she had no STD's to worry about. However the nurse did make sure to remind her to take ibuprofen for the swelling on her bruises.

After they arrived back to their room, Evie collapsed on her bed and sighed.

"Are you alright, Evie?" questioned Mal.

"I'm fine, I guess. Just tired."

Mal looked at the girl suspiciously, looked at her phone and responded, "Well, it's almost time for me to get back to class as lunch period is almost over. Will you be okay?"

"I'll be fine," Evie replied, sinking into herself.

"Are you sure?"

"Mal, I said I would be fine," exclaimed Evie harshly, but upon seeing the hurt look on Mal's face, she said calmly, "It's just been a long day. Just go on to classes. I love you."

"I love you too, E." Mal responded, as she went to kiss the girl on the forehead and then hurriedly headed to the rest of her classes.

Evie felt her heart physically ache as Mal left to head to her class. She knew the girl needed to not miss any classes if at all possible. Hell, she herself should be in classes. But everything just felt so pointless to the girl. She felt a tear run down her cheek, so she decided to head to the bathroom, and escape all of her problems with a blade in hand.

When she got into her and Mal's shared bathroom, locked the door, and rolled up the sleeves of her gray long-sleeved t-shirt. She then grabbed her razor, held it down until it made her bleed and sighed at the relief she felt come at the sight of her blood.

_What the fuck is wrong with me? _Thought Evie, _Why do I have to hurt myself to feel any control over myself ?_

Evie soon cleaned up her cut, bandaged it, rolled her sleeve back down, and went back to her room. She was exhausted, so she collapsed onto her bed, where she closed her eyes and tried to let sleep find her. However, try as she might, she just couldn't find it in her to go to sleep. Her anxieties were keeping her awake, so after a while, she grabbed her phone and a pair of earbuds. She opened up her Spotify, and listened to her favorite playlist. But the upbeat music just didn't mean what it used to, so she searched for a playlist with the word, "sad". Thousands of playlists came up and she clicked on one called "depression playlist". She pressed play and the first song to come up felt so real. The lyrics "I'm not a stranger, no I am yours. With crippled anger and tears that still drip sore." resonate deeply with the girl. Tears roll from her eyes down her cheeks and she starts to sob. This is who she is, deep down, and right now, she doesn't know if she's ever going to be able to change.


	6. I Am Not Nothing

"_No one made me feel as small as you did, no one made me feel as cursed." -I Am Not Nothing by Beth Crowley_

Carlos's Point of View

After he and Jay talked to the police about what Evie had told them the day before, Carlos found himself in a state of panic, so he decided to head back to his room. He found himself sitting in the window awning, wandering why the hell this had to happen.

When Jay had come to check on him around lunch time, Carlos didn't know what to tell him when asked if he was okay.

"I guess I am, I'm just worried about Evie."

"I know, bud. I am too." Jay replied, "But we have to be there for her okay?"

"I know, I know...I'm just...freaking out. This was supposed to be our fresh start, ya know? Our safe haven. And now, it's not." Carlos felt tears brim in his eyes, "What if it turns out to be worse than the Isle because of this?"

Jay looked at Carlos and nodded, but then he patted his best friend's knee and said, "This isn't like the isle, Carlos. You wanna know why?" At Carlos' nod, Jay continued, "Because here, we have hope that something can go right, even when things really really suck, ya know? Ben and Doug have been arrested for what they did. They're probably going to spend the rest of their lives in jail, or at least the majority of it. So don't worry too much, Carlos."

At this, the freckled boy got up from where he was sitting and gave the slightly older, taller boy a hug. Feeling Jay embrace him back, they stayed like that for a few minutes until Jay asked, "Do you wanna ditch classes for the rest of the day and play Mario Kart so I can kick your ass?"

At this, Carlos felt himself laugh, "I would love that. But just to warn you, you're the one who'll be getting his ass kicked."

Mal's Point of View

Mal felt bad for leaving the purple-haired diva alone in their room. But she couldn't afford to miss anymore classes. For the rest of the day, she had pretty much her resting bitch face. When she got to chemistry that afternoon, Lonnie sat next to her and asked if Evie was okay.

"Yea, she's just not feeling too well," Mal responded.

Lonnie nodded and said, "Well, what about you? Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, thanks." Mal replied.

"Really? 'Cause you don't look fine."

Mal felt tears brim in her eyes, something that rarely happened.

"There's just a lot of things going on that I can't talk about right now, Lonnie."

"It's okay," Lonnie responded and then grabbed Mal's hand and added, "But I'm here if you ever want to talk."

Mal muttered a simple thanks and pretty soon after that, their professor was going on about some chemicals and formulas that she didn't understand. She did try to take notes as best as she could though so that Evie would be able to help her decipher them when she was feeling up to it.

At the thought of the purple-haired girl, Mal let out a breathy sigh. She wanted nothing more than for her Evie to be okay.

She had hope, deep down, that things would work out for the best though, so she tried her best to pay attention to the rest of her lessons for the day before heading back to her and Evie's shared room.

Evie's Point of View

Evie's sobs had subsided to more of a hiccup. She soon drifted off to sleep, with her earbuds still in her ears. So, she didn't know Mal had walked back into their room until she felt something nudging her.

She opened her eyes and took out her earbuds and let out a sleepy, "Hey Mal."

"Hi E." Mal responded.

"How were classes?" Evie asked as she started to sit up.

Mal sat next to her and said, "Fine. Lonnie asked about you."

Evie nodded and said, "She's a good friend."

"Did you sleep well?"

"Yea. I guess.."

Mal simply nodded and patted her best friend's knee. Then she said, "I love you, you know that right?"

Evie smiled slightly at that and replied, "I know. I love you too."

"Can I ask you something Eves?"

"Of course, Mal. Anything."

"Why are you cutting yourself?"

At this, Evie looked down. "I don't know...Ever since that _incident _happened, I just feel so disgusting. I feel so much pain that I can't control. And this is the one type of pain I can control. Does that make sense?" she asked, looking back up at Mal.

Mal nodded and said, "I think I understand. It's just…I'm worried about you, E. You're not acting like yourself. And I know you feel damaged and broken. But you aren't."

"Why did this happen to me?" Evie asked as she felt tears well up in her eyes and laid her head down in Mal's lap.

Mal just looked down at her, tucking Evie's hair behind her ear, and said, "I don't know sweetie. I don't know."

At this, Evie started to sob, and Mal rubbed her arm and comforted her for a while. She knew Evie needed to be held and comforted, to feel loved and cared for. And Mal was more than willing to provide that for her beautiful best friend.

After Evie's sobs started to subside, she looked up at Mal and asked, "Is it okay if we stay like this for a while?"

"Of course, baby girl. Of course." Mal responded.

Evie sighed and felt herself start to relax. Mal's touch was the most comforting she had ever had. Growing up with her mother wasn't comforting at all. And the random slaps on the ass she received from gross men on the Isle weren't comforting. Doug wasn't comforting when he touched her, even before the incident. He was always rough and too clingy. But something about Mal's touch just felt like home to Evie. And that was something Evie had always wanted: a real home.

Mal's Point of View

Mal looked down at the purple haired diva whose head was in her lap and slightly smiled. She lightly scratched Evie's shoulder, moving her fingers in circles on the girl's arm. This, right here, was what mattered most to Mal: the beautiful blue-haired princess she was lucky enough to call her best friend.

Suddenly, Mal felt Evie start to sit up. "Are you feeling better?" Mal asked, as she reached for her best friend's hand.

At this, Evie nodded. "I'm thinking about telling Lonnie what's going on. What do you think?"

Mal looked at her best friend, thinking about the potential consequences. Lonnie was a good friend, that was very true. She seemed to care deeply about others and was fierce with the determination her mother had. Still, Mal had a hard time trusting even her closest of friends. After contemplating these thoughts, she looked at Evie and said, "I think you should do what you feel is best."

Evie stood up at this and said, "I think I want to tell her. She could help me catch up on schoolwork from the past couple of days. And I feel like it would be good to have another girl know what's going on. Because I love you, Mal and I don't want to burden you."

"Sweetie, you could never burden me," Mal said, standing up and grabbing her Evie's hand.

"Mal, you're sweet. But you need to take care of yourself too." Evie gave Mal a reassuring look, "I'm gonna text her and ask her to come over. Are you okay with that?"

"I'm fine with whatever you want to do, princess," Mal responded.

Lonnie's Point of View

It was weird for Lonnie to get a text in the afternoon from Evie asking her to come to her and Mal's room, so naturally she was suspicious. Not that she didn't trust Mal and Evie. She had grown fond of the VK's since their arrival. Still, something about the text made her feel uneasy.

Tourney practice was over and she decided it would be best to take a shower and change into clean clothes before heading to Mal and Evie's dorm. As she walked back to her dorm, thoughts ran through her head and she wasn't paying much attention. She ended up bumping into Chad Charming Jr, who yelled, "Hey! Watch it!"

"Oh...sorry. I wasn't paying attention."

But by the time the last syllable had left her mouth Chad was out of sight. That didn't bother her, however, because Chad was kind of a dick. She soon arrived in her room and quickly showered and changed into a blue pair of sweatpants and a gray tank top. Then, she headed out of her room.

Walking towards Mal and Evie's dorm, which wasn't far, Lonnie's thoughts were on Evie and the text she had sent her. It had said, _Hey Lonnie. Can you come over when you get the chance? I need to talk to you about something. _

Texts like that naturally gave Lonnie anxiety, as she assumed it did everyone else. However, it wasn't just the text. Both Mal and Evie had been acting strange lately, particularly Evie. She was concerned about them, but she didn't know how to help them because she didn't know what was going on.

She soon arrived at their door and knocked three times. Mal was the one who opened the door and Evie was sitting on her bed.

"Come in," said Mal.

Lonnie walked in the room and Mal shut the door. "Is everything okay?" Lonnie asked.

"Not really," responded Mal and Evie simultaneously.

At this, Lonnie went to sit next to Evie on the mattress. Mal was pacing back and forth. "What's going on?" Lonnie asked, looking Evie in the eyes.

"This information...it can't go anywhere, okay? The people who need to know know. And I'm trusting you to not tell anyone..."

Lonnie grabbed Evie's hand and squeezed. "I promise I won't tell anyone."

At this, Evie smiled ever so lightly and said, "It all started about a month ago when something terrible happened to me..."


	7. Little Do You Know

"_So lay your head 'cause little do you know, I love you 'til the sun dies." -Little Do You Know by Alex & Sierra_

Lonnie's Point of View

As Evie was talking, Lonnie felt her stomach drop with everything Evie was telling her. She couldn't believe that Doug and Ben had done _that. _She did believe Evie, of course, it was just that she grow up with both of them. And it made her sick to her stomach to think that anyone was capable of such heinous actions, especially in Aurodon of all places.

After Evie finished talking, Lonnie heard her let out a sigh of relief and say, "So that's what I wanted to tell you. Mal knows, and Jay and Carlos do. And the authorities have become involved. But I really don't want anyone else to know. The reason I decided to tell you is because the boys are there for me, of course, but I'm not comfortable around boys right now, not even Jay and Carlos. They're like my brothers and I love them, of course, but I just don't feel safe. And I know Mal is here for me, but I don't want to overwhelm her."

Lonnie looked Evie in the eyes, grabbing her hand and said, "You don't have to worry about me telling anyone, love. I'm here for you."

Mal's Point of View

Mal's stomach twinged with jealousy when she saw Lonnie grab Evie's hand. However, she knew that having Lonnie involved was probably for the best. Still, knots in her stomach formed at the thought of someone other than her, Jay or Carlos holding Evie's hands, especially another girl. Mall shook it off though and gave Lonnie and Evie a warm smile.

"Evie, I told you you can't burden me. But I understand that you wanted to tell Lonnie and I'm okay with that."

Evie's Point of View

Telling Lonnie gave Evie such an instant form of relief. Mal, Jay and Carlos were always going to find out one way or another, and they would always believe her. But the fact that an Aurodon student believed her and didn't just write her off, meant a lot to her.

She hugged Lonnie and said, "Thanks. You're a good friend."

Lonnie replied, "You are too, Evie."

Evie didn't notice the jealousy in Mal's eyes, but she did notice the way she was pacing back and forth squeezing them together. Upon noticing this, she let go of the embrace she held with Lonnie and said, "Mal, are you okay?"

"What...Yea, I'm fine Eves."

Evie stood up and grabbed her best friend's hand. "I love you, Mal. You know that right?"

"Of course, baby girl. Of course." Mal responded and kissed the slightly taller girl's cheek. "I love you too."

Lonnie was still sitting on the bed, and asked, "Do y'all wanna go get supper?"

Mal's Point of View

"Sure," Mal responded, while Evie said, "I'm not that hungry."

"Evie, I call bullshit," Mal replied, "You barely eat anymore. Please come at least come with Lonnie and I to the cafeteria and try to eat something."

"Yea," Lonnie added, "You need food, love."

Evie nodded and said, "Okay, but don't get too excited. It's really hard for me to eat a lot."

Mal put on a blue hoodie over her t-shirt, and Evie put on a purple hoodie over her shirt. Then, they all headed out the door.

While they walked towards the cafeteria, Mal looked at Evie and asked her if she wanted to text Jay and Carlos to see if they wanted to sit with them.

"Sure," Evie responded.

Evie's Point of View

When they arrived at the cafeteria, Evie's senses became overwhelmed with the noises of kids laughing and the smells of an assortment of different foods. She felt her breath constrict and tried her best to breathe in and out, but It became difficult. There were just _so many _people and _so much _food, she wasn't sure she would be able to handle it.

But the blue-haired girl felt Mal's hand squeeze hers and Lonnie gently touch her shoulder and she felt herself let out a breath she had no idea she had been holding in.

_It's going to be okay. _Evie thought to herself. _It's going to be okay. It has to be._

Lonnie and Mal each filled their trays with food, and Evie got herself a small salad and a cup of fruit.

After getting their food, they saw Jay and Carlos at their usual spot in the cafeteria and went to sat down. Evie sat down across from Carlos and diagonally across from Jay, with Mal on one side of her and Lonnie on the other.

Evie mostly picked at her food, putting a nibble in her mouth here and there, laughing when someone said funny, and nodding when someone said something that was important. She was trying her hardest to be okay again, but she just wasn't.

Mal's Point of View

Mal noticed the way Evie played with her food, barely eating a bite. She noticed the way she didn't say anything, just nodded and laughed when she was supposed to. It wasn't an unusual site lately, but it still hurt Mal deeply to see the girl she loved so much hurting so badly. She wanted nothing more than to take the pain away from the blue-haired angel, but she knew that she couldn't, so she just stared at Evie till she felt an elbow nudge her. It was Evie's.

"Are you okay, M?"

"I'm fine, E. Just a little tired."

"Maybe we can all have a movie night tonight since it's Friday anyway."

"Sounds fun," Mal replied, smiling. "You all in?" She asked, looking at Lonnie and then Jay and Carlos.

"HELL YES!" Lonnie exclaimed!

"Yea, that'll be fun," said Carlos, "We going to watch horror or comedy or something romantic?

"I say we let Evie choose since it was her idea." Jay responded.

"Okay," said Evie, "I vote comedy. Nothing romantic though."

All five of them laughed and agreed they would watch Deadpool and maybe some other comedic films that night.

When they finished eating, they put their trays up, and decided to head to Jay and Carlos' room to watch the movies, since they had the most extensive movie collection. Sure, the VK's hadn't been in Aurodon for too long, but Carlos and Jay fell in love with movies upon discovering them. They provided an escape for all 4 of the VK's when nightmares from the Isle just became too much for them to handle.

On the way to the boys' room though, they ran into Audrey, who gave them all a look of disgust. Mal really didn't like Audrey, but she was trying to be nice, so she said, "Hello Audrey." with a fake smile.

"Hello, Mal. Would you care to tell me why your blue haired friend here is a lying bitch?"

Evie's Point of View

Evie was shocked at what Audrey had just said.

_No one's told anyone yet? Have they? _Evie thought to herself. Then, reality hit her and she realized it was Doug and/or Ben who must have said something to her.

"What are you talking about?" asked Lonnie.

"Oh, you don't know, butch? This little wannabe princess," Audrely replied sharply, pointing her finger in the direction of Evie's chest, "is lying saying that Doug raped her and Ben took a video of it."

Evie could see Mal's eyes flicker green, Jay's face flush with anger, and Carlos looked like he was ready to curl into a ball. She herself was about ready to run back to her room and cry herself to sleep. That is, until she saw Lonnie pushing Audrey up against the wall.

Lonnie's Point of View

Lonnie wasn't a particularly violent person, not really. Sure, she enjoyed sports that had her engage in physical contact, but she rarely ever got into physical fights out of anger or just because. She saved that for the sports she enjoyed. But hearing Audrey talk shit about Evie, the girl who had been the kindest of the VK's even when they first arrived, the girl who trusted her enough to tell her her deepest, darkest secrets…well, that was all Lonnie needed to push Audrey up against the wall, grabbing the girl by her shirt collar.

"You listen to me, Audrey, and you listen good. Evie's not a liar. And she's not a wannabe princess either. I don't know how you found out about any of this, but rest assured, I believe Evie's telling the truth. Think about who told you they were lying. It was probably Ben or Doug right?" Audrey just looked down and tried to squirm her way out of Lonnie's grip. It didn't work. "Stay the fuck away from her, do you hear me? She doesn't need people like you dismissing her trauma, got it?"

Audrey just simply nodded and Lonnie let the girl go. Then, Audrey ran off to the cafeteria with what looked like tears brimming in her eyes. Lonnie felt slightly guilty, but the girl needed to learn not to mess with people, especially people who had done nothing to her.

"Way to go, Lonnie!" Mal said, patting the girl's back.

"Yea," Jay replied, "I was ready to kick her ass, but you did a pretty good job yourself."

"Yea, thanks." Carlos said.

Evie just looked down, tears brimming in her eyes and said, "Can we just go to the boys' room and watch the movie please?"

Evie's Point of View

They all nodded, and when they arrived at the boys' dorm, Evie announced, "Before we start the movie, I have to use the restroom, okay?"

When she made sure they all knew, she went into the boys' restroom and locked the door. She was on the verge of a panic attack when Audrey had confronted them (well, really just her, she was just lucky her friends were there too), and her breathing was still shallow and constricted. She truly was grateful to Lonnie for defending her, but it made her feel bad that it had to come to that. Searching around the room, she looked for anything she could use to give herself a form of relief. Luckily, she found a huge pack of disposable razors and decided to steal one since there were like 10 in there.

Pulling up her hoodie sleeve, she left four marks on her wrist.

_It's all my fault. _Evie thought to herself. _I have to punish myself for this. It's all my fucking fault._

Before she knew it, she had left seven more marks on her left arm. Quickly, she put the razor in the pocket of her hoodie, and looked around the boy's bathroom for bandages.

Before she was able to find them though, she heard a knock and someone asking "You okay, Eves?"

It was Carlos.

Carlos' Point of View

Carlos eyed Evie suspiciously when she said she had to use the restroom. Lately, she had been using the restroom a lot. This normally wouldn't make him suspicious but the fact was that Evie was distressed lately, and rightly so. He was worried about his best friend.

"Jay, do you think Evie's okay?" He decided to ask.

"I don't know, Carlos. I don't know."

"If she takes too long, I'm going to go check on her, okay Jay?"

Jay looked at him worriedly, but then finally said, "Okay."

After it had been about fifteen minutes, Carlos went to go check on Evie.

Knocking on the door, he asked, "You okay, Eves?"

"I'm fine."

"Well, if you are, then let me in."

Evie's Point of View

Unfortunately, Evie was unable to find bandaids and just rolled her sleeve down and went to open the door.

"Carlos, I'm good, just got a little panicked, I think." Evie said, making sure to quickly add, "But I'm fine."

Carlos eyed her suspiciously but just nodded and said, "Let's go watch a movie."

They all went to sit down on the boys' couch which was in front of their television. Evie sat in the middle of everyone with Mal on one side and Lonnie on the other side. Jay sat next to Mal and Carlos sat next to Lonnie.

Evie grabbed Mal's hand and leaned her head on her best friend's shoulder, and sighed semi-contentedly. She was still anxious about everything that had happened that night...really, she was anxious about everything that had been going on lately. But being in a room with her closest friends watching one of her favorite movies, she felt safe. Pretty soon, she drifted off to sleep, just missing the opening scene of Deadpool.

Mal's Point of View

Mal sighed happily when Evie leaned her head on her shoulder, holding her hands. The purple-haired diva was the girl of her dreams and even though she was in a room with friends, she didn't understand the things she was feeling for the girl. She just knew it was different than how she felt for, Jay, Carlos, Lonnie, or even Ben when they had dated.

_Boy, I'm glad I dumped that loser. _Mal thought to herself. _She's so pretty. She makes me feel things. I love her._

Mal knew, though, that she couldn't tell Evie any of this, especially with everything Evie had been going through lately. Still, she was happy her best friend felt safe enough to seek comfort in her. Sighing contentedly, she looked down at the blue-haired angel, who was now safe asleep. The movie had started and normally any noise would aggravate Mal. However, Evie's soft snores had become something she had grown used to and she knew with her in the room, no one would dare say anything about _her _Evie's snoring.

Then, Mal leaned her head onto Evie's head and squeezed her hand tightly. Soon, she herself was fast asleep. It had been a long week.

Jay's Point of View

Jay noticed the way Mal and Evie had fallen asleep on each other and was tempted to take a picture. However, he knew that Mal would murder him if he did, so he just looked at them and sighed happily. He knew things weren't as good as they could be, but at least they were better than they were. And he was happy about that. That is, until, he saw that Evie's sleeve had slipped up and she had what looked like several fresh cuts on her arm. He gave Carlos and Lonnie _the _look (the look that meant we need to have an intervention for one of the girls). Nodding his head in the direction of Evie, he saw Lonnie and Carlos look at her arms and gasp. He knew that Carlos already knew about Evie's self-harm, but he wasn't sure about Lonnie. Still, he trusted her. They all gave each other a knowing look. When the movie was over, they would wake up the girls and have a long talk with Evie about why she was doing what she was doing. Until then, they would try and enjoy the movie.


	8. I Hate Myself

"_I don't see you like I should. You look so misunderstood. And I wish I could help. But it's hard when I hate myself." _

Audrey's Point of View

Audrey was pacing cross and forth across her room, cursing herself for not getting Evie to drop the charges with her scare tactic.

Her granny was so ecstatic when Mal and Ben had broken up, but was disappointed because Audrey hadn't won him back yet. 

Her granny lived with her and her parents and she was often a victim of her granny's verbal and sometimes even physical abuse.

They didn't call it abuse though, they called it discipline, even if there were bruises and welts left from the so called "licks" she received from all 3 authority figures living in her house, especially from her grandmother.

When Audrey told Queen Leah that Ben was pressuring her to have sex and thing were going further than she wanted them to, the response she received was, "A king's queen does whatever is asked of by him and does not question it. Do not complain to me about such nonsense again as it is your duty to satisfy him."

At that thought, an even more sour look crossed her face because she didn't want to think about what that conversation had led to.

She stared at Jane, who was sitting on the foot of her bed and practically yelled, "I can't believe that blue haired bitch is still pressing charges against Benny Boo!"

"Why is she doing that?" Jane asked Audrey. Jane had no clue about the situation, and was only in the princess' room to help her study for chemistry, though Jane wasn't great at it herself. However, when Audrey asked someone to do something, they did it, no questions asked. Jane was beginning to wonder, however, if Audrey had only asked her into her room because she was the closest thing she had to a real friend.

"She's claiming Doug raped her and that Ben taped the whole occurance! UGH!" exclaimed Audrey, "I just know she's lying. She just has to be. He wouldn't do that, would he?"

Audrey's voice had softened, but her breathing was becoming more rapid.

At this, Jane got up, walked over to Audrey, grabbed the princess's ice cold hands, and softly said, "First of all, Audrey. I need you to breathe and count to ten." 

Audrey normally was not a person to do what she was told, but she knew Jane wasn't trying to come from a place of authority or dominance, but she was coming from a place of compassion and kindness, which was not something Audrey was used to.

After Audrey's breath had become more steady, Jane pulled the princess to the bed to sit down with her.

When they both sat down, Jane cupped Audrey's face and said, "Why are you so upset about the possibility that Ben had something to do with this?" 

Audrey wanted to turn her stone cold face on, but she just couldn't. Her eyes started to water and she allowed a tear to fall from her face, "I don't know."

"That's okay." replied Jane in her soft, sweet voice, "but can I tell you something?" Audrey nodded, and Jane continued, "I think you do know why you're upset, and you're afraid to say it out loud."

Jane was prepared for Audrey to cuss at her or yell at her or slap her. What she wasn't prepared for was what happened.

Audrey wrapped her arms around Jane's shoulders and quiet tears fell down from Audrey's face on to Jane's shirt.

Jane was motionless at first, because she wasn't used to Audrey hugging her, but after a few minutes, Audrey felt her back being rubbed, as if telling her everything was going to be okay.

The truth was, deep down, Audrey believed Evie, but the reason she was so angry was because she had never felt brave enough to come forward and tell the truth.

Evie's Point of View

Evie awoke to the credits rolling and her head on Mal's shoulders. She smiled slightly at the sight of the beautiful purple-haired girl. However, the stinging on her arm reminded her of the altercation with Audrey and the fact that she had cut herself with one of the boys' razors. She lifted her head up slightly and looked around at her friends who she cared for dearly. Jay was looking at her with concern in his eyes and Carlos looked exhausted. Lonnie was focused on the credits.

Evie heard Jay clear his throat and ask, "Is Mal awake?"

"Yes," the purple haired girl mumbled.

"We all need to talk."

Panic rose in Evie's chest. She just knew this was about her. Her breathing was becoming more ragged with each breath until she felt Mal's hand gently rub her back and reply, "What's going on?"

"Evie, can you roll your sleeves up?" Jay asked.

Evie felt her face flush red and tears stream down her eyes. "Why the fuck would I do that?"

Mal looked at her best friend with concerned eyes, "Please baby girl, just roll them up. No one here is going to judge you."

Jay, Carlos, and Lonnie all nodded in agreement with Mal.

Reluctantly, Evie pulled up both of her sleeves, her arm filled with cuts and scars. Some were newer. Some were older. All of them were self-inflicted.

"I'm sorry. I...I'm sorry." is all Evie managed to say as she looked down and her tears fell from her beautiful eyes. The blue haired diva wanted nothing more than to run out of the room screaming, possibly even escape back to the isle but she knew that would be pointless.

Mal's Point of View

Mal had known Evie was self harming, but she didn't realize how bad it was. A small gasp left her mouth as Evie rolled up her sleeve.

"It's okay, Evie, it's okay." Mal said, looking at Evie, whose head was down.

"Does Fairy GodMother know about this?" Lonnie asked.

Evie just shook her head and mumbled, "I don't think so. And please don't tell her."

Lonnie looked Evie in the eyes and said, "Don't worry, I won't sweetie."

Mal grabbed Evie's hand, and rubbed circles on her thumb.

Then Carlos walked over to Evie, knelt down on his knees and lifted her chin up with his right hand. With tears starting to fill his eyes, he said, "Evie, you have to stop. Please. I, I don't want to be selfish, but you're scaring me. You're my sister and I love you. And I don't want you to hurt like this and I just want to take it away and I know I can't." Carlos's face was full of tears as he continued, "I just...I hate to see you in so much pain and I can't take it away. And I don't know what I would do if something ever happened to you..." 

Hot, angry tears were now running down her face as she pushed Carlos' hand out of her face and let go of Mal's hand and harshly whispered, "Well, it's too late for that. Something terrible already did happen. A look of shock crossed all their faces, and Evie quickly ran out of the room.

Carlos quickly crawled into his and Jay's shared closet, mumbling, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry," where Jay and Mal both knew he would stay until he felt safe.

Shocked silence covered the room and Jay was the first one to break it, "Well, that didn't go over well."

"N-no it didn't." Mal replied, "Do you think Carlos is going to be okay?"

Jay looked at Mal, his dark eyes, distant, appearing cold to anyone who didn't know him, "I don't know. I hope so." After a few more minutes of silence, not looking at anyone, he said, "I think it's best if you both go."

"But Jay," Lonnie started to reply as she stood up.

"Don't fight him," Mal interrupted, "He needs time to be alone and to help Carlos. Just grab whatever you brought here and let's go.

Lonnie was tempted to debate the topic further until she saw tears glistening in Mal's eyes, something everyone knew was a rare occurance.

After they left the room, Lonnie started to walk with Mal. Once they got to Lonnie's room, Mal didn't even look up and said, "Just go to sleep. I'll check on Evie, okay?"

However, by the time she reached their shared room, Evie was nowhere to be found. 

Mal quickly sent out a text to Evie. When about thirty minutes had passed and she hadn't received a response, she texted Carlos, Jay and Lonnie about the situation.

Normally, Evie being gone for a while wouldn't bother her, but the condition she was in lately had Mal worried. Evie didn't need to be alone right now. But she hadn't followed her like she should have the minute she left, and she deeply regretted it.

She received texts back from both Jay and Lonnie. Carlos was probably still hiding in his and Jay's shared closet.

Lonnie's text read: _She probably just needs to be alone right now, Mal. Try not to worry too much XOXO_

Jay's read: _I'm kind of busy trying to coax Carlos out of the closet, Mal. Do you think you can handle this?_

Mal replied to both of them with a thumbs up emoji.

_I'll just have to handle this myself. _Mal thought to herself. She grabbed her phone, and quickly walked out of her room, searching for any place Evie might be hiding. There was no luck.

Desperate, she texted Jane, who Evie sometimes hung out with: _You haven't seen Evie, have you?_

Jane responded to her quickly telling her she hadn't seen Evie at all that day.

_Shit. _Mal thought to herself. There was usually only one place Evie would go off campus past curfew. And that was the Enchanted Lake.

She quickly shot a text to Jay and told him she was heading off campus to find Evie.

Jay's Point of View

After Mal and Jay had left his and Carlos' shared dorm, he walked over to the closet where Carlos was hiding.

He knelt down and looked at his best friend and said, "Hey buddy, you know she didn't mean that right? She didn't mean to hurt you, little duck"

Carlos just shook his head, hands around his knees as he rocked back and forth, repeatedly saying, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry." 

Jay knew Carlos wasn't mad at Evie, he was just having a panic attack brought on by the sudden change in temperament. It angered Jay that Evie had hurt Carlos like this, but he also knew it wasn't on purpose.

"Carlos, come on, little duck," Jay persisted, reaching his arm out to Carlos' shoulder, which he rubbed ever so gently, "You have to breathe. You can beat this attack. You've done it so many times before just like we all have. This feeling won't last forever. You know that."

Carlos' breaths became more steady as Jay sat next to him and rubbed his shoulder. A lot of times, when Carlos had a panic attack, this was exactly what he needed: someone to sit with him until it was over.

He was still upset about the situation though, so when he received a text from Mal telling him she couldn't find Evie, he sighed and sent an unemotive text back.

At the sound of Jay's phone going off, Carlos looked up, breathing becoming less ragged and asked, "W-Who was t-t-that?"

"Don't worry about it, little duck." Jay responded, "Are you okay?" 

Carlos nodded and started to get up, tears still in his eyes from the state of panic he was in just moments before, "I-I'm f-fine, I t-think. I-I-I just n-need s-some water," Carlos replied as headed to their mini-fridge to grab a cold bottle.

After shutting the fridge and chugging a few sips, he grabbed his phone, which was charging next to his bed, and saw the text from Mal saying she couldn't find Evie.

"J-Jay, did you get a text from Mal telling you she couldn't find Evie? Was that what you wouldn't tell me?" Carlos, asked, a hint of anger and betrayal in his eyes.

Jay looked back at the slightly younger boy with soft eyes, "I didn't want to upset you."

"Well, it's kind of too late for that, Jay," Carlos replied, angrily, grabbing a sweatshirt and putting on a pair of tennis shoes.

"Where are you going?" Jay asked, worry in his voice.

"I'm going to help Mal find Evie."

"Are you sure? What about what happened earlier?" 

"I don't give a fuck about that. That happens sometimes. To all of us. And she wasn't trying to hurt me, Jay. She's my best friend. And if she does something, or something happens to her..." Carlos trailed off, tears brimming in his eyes for what felt like the billionth time that week.

At this, Jay walked over to Carlos' hands and said, "I'm coming with you too, then." 

"So you're not mad at Evie?" 

The long-haired boy's eyes softened and he replied, "I was never mad at Evie. I was mad at the situation. I hate to see any of you hurting. And I hate it even more when I can't fight what's hurting you for you." 

Carlos' Point of View

Carlos nodded as he knew what Jay said was true. Jay was very protective of all four of them. He was the biggest and oldest of the four of them. He protected them, even when they didn't think any of them needed protecting. Mal was the one who fought Jay the most on this. But Mal, fiesty as she was, still had people she couldn't fight off herself, despite having Maleficent as a mother.

Therefore, after Jay had grabbed a jacket and put it on, and started walking out the door. He stayed a couple steps ahead of Jay because he didn't want Jay to try and talk to him again until after they found Evie and knew she was safe. He was still pretty angry Jay lied about the text that was sent to him.

Lying was one of the things that angered Carlos more than anything. His entire childhood was full of people lying to him, especially his mother. So, when someone lied to him, no matter how small or big the lie was, especially when that lie came from someone he trusted. And Jay was the one person he trusted more than anyone else in the world, so this lie hurt a lot worse than most lies did.

Carlos was comforted by the sound of Jay's footsteps behind them, though, as he knew Jay wasn't going to let him be alone. With that thought, he smiled softly as they reached the hallway that held Mal and Evie's dorm.

When they reached the dorm however, the door was cracked open.

"Mal," Carlos called, "You in there?"

When there was no response, they walked in the room, and didn't see Mal anywhere.

"Did she text you again, Jay?" Carlos questioned.

Jay's Point of View

At this, Jay shrugged and pulled his phone from his pocket. Carlos was right, per usual, there was a text from Mal that said: _I_ _can't find Evie. No one has seen her. I think she's at the Enchanted Lake._

Jay then read the text aloud, and wondered out loud, "Should we go get Fairy Godmother?"

"No!" Carlos exclaimed, "We will find Mal. And we'll find Evie. She will be okay. We don't need Fairy Godmother to get involved because they might get in trouble for sneaking off campus. And the last thing any of us needs is more trouble, Jay."

"Okay, you're right little duck. Let's go find our friends."

Evie's Point of View

Evie hated how awful she had just treated her friends, especially Carlos. She knew all of her friends just wanted to help her but she knew there was no help for her. She was a loser, pathetic and alone.

The old Evie would have never have snapped at Carlos like that or stomped out of the room. The old Evie would never have cut her own skin. The old Evie was kind and forgiving, not callous and bitter. But something had changed within her and she felt as if nothing would ever be the same.

_Everyone hates me. And they have every right to. I don't deserve love. I don't deserve anyone. I was such a dick to Carlos when all he was trying to do was be a friend and I acted like a heartless monster to me. He'll never forgive me. And neither will Jay. Mal thinks I'm weak and Lonnie probably hates me for being such a freak. I deserved what happened to me. I deserved it. __I deserve everything bad that happens to me. But the one thing I don't deserve is to live._

These thoughts raced through her mind as she ran back to her and Mal's shared room. When she arrived at their shared dorm, she quickly decided she wouldn't be staying there tonight. She grabbed her backpack and jammed it full of clothes, a couple of razor blades she had hidden and a few other necessities. She then quickly changed into a blue hoodie, gray sweatpants, and a pair of tennis shoes.

After that, she quickly ran out of her room, out of her hallway, out of the building, and eventually off campus. She had no clue where she was running until she reached her destination. There she was: the castle that belonged to the Beast and Belle.

She wanted nothing more than to let out a loud, horrific scream, but she couldn't. Not then, not right now. So, instead, she dropped her bag down, and grabbed one of the razor blades she had. She quickly rolled up one of her sleeves and cut her wrist horizontally, blood pouring from the wound. Then, she grabbed a piece of paper she had in her bag, and wrote "You'll regret this," in blood.

After she dressed the cut up with a couple lose bandages she had in her backpack, she looked at the note she had written in blood. Although she was very tempted to put it in the mailbox that belonged to the castle, she eventually decided not to because she saw a feminine figure with beautiful red hair looking out a window from a bay window on the second floor. Belle was staring directly at her.

Because this terrified Evie, so much, she crumpled up the paper, put it back in her backpack and quickly zipped it off. Then, she quickly ran off and knew just where she was headed next: the one place no one could fuck up.

It was the place Mal had shown her soon after they had arrived and Mal had successfully tricked Ben into falling her. Her and Mal spent many days and nights sitting in the gazebo, and Evie would sometimes want to go swimming, but she never would because she knew Mal didn't know how to swim.

When she arrived at the place she was headed to, she realized her breathing was frantic, so she quickly sat down on the gazebo fronting the Enchanted lake and let herself breathe. She laughed to herself as she found that ironic because for the past hour or so, all she had wanted to do was stop breathing.

After she had regained her breath, she put her backpack down. Her mind was racing, but she knew exactly what she was about to do as she stared. She untied her shoes one at a time and kicked them off. She then opened her backpack and searched for a blank sheet of paper and a pen. Once found, she quickly scribbled an "I'm sorry," on a piece of paper and stuck her bag on the paper so it stayed there.

She looked down at the wrist she had cut earlier. It was still bleeding, but the blood had slowed down considerably, which was surprising, considering the blue-haired princess hadn't taken any time to properly clean or bandage it.

That didn't really matter though, considering what she was about to do. Her phone buzzed and she simply ignored it as she had been doing since she left her dorm. She was tempted to throw her phone in the lake, but quickly realized her phone still had evidence of Doug harassing her.

She knew that would help whatever case they could build once they found her bag and her.

She stood up and slowly started walking to the enchanted lake. Her body was eventually engulfed by the water and naturally, she held her breath, but slowly, she opened her mouth to let the water fill her lungs.

She didn't try to fight it as this is what she craved. Darkness soon enveloped her, and she felt someone pull her up and out. At first, she thought she was ascending into heaven. Or possibly descending into hell. But all she saw was black until she felt hands on her chest and someone breathing life back into her.

Coughing up water, she looked up to see who the person who had just saved her was. She thought it might be Mal, or possibly Jay, Carlos, or possibly even Lonnie.

Who she didn't expect to be leaning over her pale, limp body was the mother of one of her worst enemies. But there she was, Queen Belle in all her beauty. She was wearing a pale yellow nightgown, some yellow slippers and her hair was up in a messy bun.

"B-Belle?" Evie questioned, her voice was hoarse, barely above a whisper.

"Shh. Rest your voice. It's going to need it after the damage that's been done to it from the water." 

At this, Evie nodded her head and felt herself being carried bridal style by the queen. Before they could walk off, Evie said, "G-gazebo...m-y stuff..."

Belle nodded and said, "Don't worry, I'll get it."

Belle carried her to the gazebo and grabbed her bag, to which she questioned, "P-phone?"

"I just put it in your bag. Now, rest your voice, okay?"

Evie simply nodded and let her head rest on Belle's surprisingly muscular shoulder.

Belle's Point of View

"ALL I KNOW IS THAT LITTLE BLUE HAIRED BITCH IS LYING ABOUT OUR SON AND DOUG BELLE! THEY'RE GOOD BOYS! AURADON BOYS! THEY WOULDN'T DO THAT!" Beast all but roared.

Ben had gone to bed, and Belle and the Beast were in there bedroom. The queen was sitting in the bay window, secretly wishing she could magically disappear from the castle she felt trapped in.

Belle whispered, "We don't know that. We don't know what they're capable of."

"WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY?" The Beast was raging.

"I think you heard me," Belle replied, voice growing slightly stronger, then looked at the Beast with sad eyes and said, "I think it's best if you sleep in another room tonight."

"But.." Beast's demeanor had softened and his eyes started to water.

"Beast, you know I love you, but I can't be around you when you're angry. Please go sleep somewhere else for tonight."

Reluctantly, he grabbed his phone and a couple of other things and went to sleep in one of the many other rooms their castle held.

Belle felt tears glisten in her eyes as she turned around and looked out the bay window. When she first had heard the news that Evie was accusing Doug of raping her and Ben of video taping it, she was heartbroken. She had felt heartbroken before. Her heart had broken when Mal and Ben had broken up. That girl had started to become like a daughter to her and Evie would often come around as well when they had to help Mal pick out a dress to wear, as Mal had a very unique style. But the heartbreak she felt at that break-up was nothing she felt when she found out her son had been accused of something horrific. Not only was she heartbroken, she was livid at the thought of someone accusing her son of something so heinous. But the more she thought about it, the more it made sense.

The way Ben acted around girls always made her feel uneasy, but she always shrugged it off as typical teenage boy stuff. The way Ben forced Audrey to hold hands and publicly display their affection, the way he hit on almost every girl he saw, even when he was dating someone, the time before the VK's arrived, she found him pinning Audrey down on the couch kissing her despite her struggles to get free until she coughed and he finally stopped (and when she told Beast about it, he had said how his son was just a normal teenage boy)...it all was starting to make sense. And she didn't think it came naturally to her son. The way Doug and sometimes Chad would treat girls sickened her, but they were some of the only boys who would hang out with Ben without asking for anything, seeing as they both got whatever they wanted. Ben was her son, her baby, no matter what happened or what he did, which is why she was so angry when he was accused.

However, the more she thought about it, the less angry she became with Evie for accusing her son and the more angry she became with herself for raising a son who committed such horrible actions. She didn't want to believe her son was capable of something so horrific, but she knew deep down everyone was capable of evil. She started to blame herself. Maybe she didn't spend enough time with her son growing up, and gave him too much. Maybe she never should have married Beast. She should have stayed in that humble little house she grow up in with her father. But she didn't and these were the consequences of her actions.

Belle still wasn't used to the powers of being queen or the fact that she was technically rich. Growing up poor, she kind of understood what some of the VK's had gone through, which was why she was growing more understanding of them each and every day. Of course, her father loved her unconditionally and she hadn't been the victim of abuse from her parents, which was something she knew the VK's had struggled with. None of them had said it, but you could tell from the way they flinched when someone went to touch them.

As these thoughts traced her mind, she noticed a thin, frail figure in the courtyard next to their mailbox. She gasped, shocked at first, but quickly realized it wasn't anyone who would do any harm. The figure looked ghostly pale with beautiful blue hair. After squinting, she quickly realized it was Evie, who at that moment looked up at the window and ran off in the direction of the Enchanted Lake.

_Shit. _Belle thought. _I have to find her. _

She wanted to find the princess and talk to her, so she quickly put on a pair of slippers to go with her nightgown. As quietly but quickly as possible, she left her room, heading down the stairs, and walking out of the castle, not telling a single soul where she was headed.

She quietly followed the trail to the Enchanted Lake. She didn't want to take the chance of accidentally spooking the poor girl.

By the time she reached the lake, the girl was nowhere in sight, but she noticed the gazebo had something on it, so she walked to it, and saw the backpack with a piece of paper under it. She picked the bag up and read the note. All it read was, "I'm sorry."

_Fuck. Shit. Fuck. _Belle thought to herself. _She's trying to drown herself. _

Once Belle comprehended the reality of the situation, she walked into the water to try and find the daughter of Grimhilde. That was a conversation Belle did NOT want to have, especially considering she didn't think the evil queen knew about the allegations that had been made. When the water was deep enough she put her head under and tried her best to look for the girl. It was completely dark under the water other than the light of the stars and moon shining on the water and she came close to giving up. That was until her face saw a glimmer of blue hair.

She swam to the girl, and grabbed her by the arms. Belle was surprised by her own strength as she exited the water and laid the her down on the shore and performed CPR. When the girl coughed up water, she let out a sigh of relief. The girl was breathing again. She picked her up bridal style and carried her.

Belle was surprised at how light the girl was out of the water, even with clothes drenched. She would be sure to find out what that was about.

When the princess tried to speak to her, she would just quietly shush her. After she grabbed the girl's bag and made sure to put her phone in it, she started walking to Auradon Prep with Evie in her arms and her bag on her shoulder.

When she reached the end of the trail that led back to the city and eventually the school, to her surprise, she heard someone yell, "What the fuck are you doing with her?"

The voice sounded familiar and as she kept walking she found the origin of it: Mal.

"I..I found her...I think she tried to..." Belle was shaken up, not able to finish her sentence.

Mal's Point of View

Mal wanted nothing more than to scream at Belle, to yell at her and ask her why she and Evie were drenched in water and why she was carrying her best friend. But deep down, she knew the answer.

So, her voice softened as she walked toward the queen and she asked, "Is...is she breathing?"

Belle simply nodded.

There was an unspoken agreement between the two of them that they would head to Auradon Prep. When they finally reached the campus grounds, they ran into Jay and Carlos, who were headed to the lake to find the two of them. Not even focusing on the queen, their eyes landed on Evie.

When Mal noticed this, she said, "She's okay, guys. She's okay."

Belle finally spoke up, "We need to take her to your dorm, okay? And I think it's protocol to call Fairy Godmother. But I don't know if we should."

Jay cleared his throat and responded, looking at both Carlos and Mal, "I think we should get her involved. She knows about everything. And I don't think she wants to get anyone in anymore trouble."

They quietly walked until they arrived at Mal and Evie's dorm, where after calling Fairy Godmother, Belle quickly said, "Dry her off and put some warm, dry clothes on her." After they nodded, she continued on, "I guess I'll go back to my castle."

Mal looked at her softly and said, "I don't know if we're the same size, but you can borrow some of my pajamas. Bottom drawer. Left side.

Belle looked at Mal tearfully and whispered, "Thanks."

After changing into a pair of black pajamas from Mal's chores, she started to head out the door until she heard Carlos' voice, barely above a whisper, "Stay. At least until she gets here."

Belle nodded her head and sat awkwardly on the foot of one of the girls' beds until she heard a knock on the door. As the kids were helping Evie get changed and warming her up, she went to open the door. It was Fairy Godmother, who looked at her, a questioning look in her eyes.

"Things got kind of bad with Beast, again tonight. I saw Evie in our yard and when she saw me staring out the window, she ran to the Enchanted Lake…I found her...I didn't know what to do..."

"Belle, it's okay, you did the right thing." Fairy Godmother replied, walking in the room, "Do you want me to notify Beast?" It was a question Fairy Godmother already knew the answer to, but wanted to ask anyway, just in case.

"No. This poor girl has suffered enough...I just...wish we could help her." 

"I'm afraid there are no magic potions that can cure what she's feelings. Perhaps we should contact her mother if she so wishes."

"Perhaps," Belle replied, her voice still shaking.

"Relax, Belle. You're okay." Fairy Godmother replied, "Where are they?"

Belle sat down at the foot of the bed, "They're helping Evie get changed in the bathroom...I figured the less people in there, the better."

At that moment, Jay walked out of the bathroom, and said, "She's almost in dry clothes...she just can't stand the sight of me right now."

Belle walked over to Jay, touched his face and looked at him with sad eyes. "I promise it's not you, sweetie. She's just scared." 

Jay solemnly nodded and went to sit down on the floor, tears almost filling his eyes.

Evie's Point of View

Evie woke up to someone carrying her, and it wasn't Belle. It was a man and she started to panic, tears falling from her eyes and her breath raggedy.

The person only carried her for a few moments, but it felt like forever. She squinted and thought she noticed three familiar figures, but she wasn't sure.

After she had been sat down on a cold floor, she felt someone pulling at her clothes. She tried to kick and scream but couldn't.

Then she heard a soft voice say, "It's us, Evie. It's okay. It's just us."

The voice came from Mal and the princess' eyes opened a little wider.

Her breathing became more steady as she realized it was just Mal, Jay and Carlos. Jay was trying to help take her shoes and socks off, but she flinched at his touch. He looked hurt at this reaction and walked up and left the room.

"Jay...wait...i'm…." 

"It's okay, Eves," Carlos told her, grabbing her hand as Mal worked on lifting her shirt off, "He's not mad at you...he just...he wants to protect us from everything and he can't always do that."

Evie simply nodded, eyes tempted to shut again.

After Mal and Carlos had helped her change into a pair of soft, warm pajamas, they headed back into the room, Evie being held up by both of them.

Evie was surprised to see Fairy Godmother upon entering her room and was also surprised that Belle was still there.

She was quickly laid down on her bed and covered with her favorite comforter. Normally, it would be hard for her to sleep in the presence of so many people, but she quickly found her eyes shutting again as whispers still filled the room.

Eventually, she felt the warmth of a purple-haired kissing her cheek and embracing her body. She knew deep down, that tomorrow wouldn't be a good day because of everything that had happened. But at least right now, she had Mal, and that was enough to make her sleep soundly for the rest of the night.


End file.
